Distribution of fatal occupational injuries among construction workers by age, 1992 and 2001.

The construction workforce has been growing older: In 2001, the average age for construction workers was 38.7 (1.5 years older than it was in 1992). In addition, the median age increased from 35 to 39 during this 10-year period. The aging of the construction workforce is reflected in the distribution of fatal occupational injuries in this group by age. From 1992 to 2001, the largest proportion of fatal occupational injuries shifted from construction workers aged 25–34 to those aged 35–44. For construction workers aged 25 or 34, the proportion with fatal injuries declined (from 27.8% to 21.7%), whereas it increased for workers aged 65 or older (from 3.9% to 5.9%).

Data for the figures come from two sources: (1) the NIOSH National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities (NTOF) Surveillance System, which is a death-certificate-based census of occupational deaths for U.S. workers aged 16 or older, and (2) the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) Surveillance System.

Average annual rate of fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 workers by State of death, 1980–2000. (All data for 1980–2000 exclude New York City.) The States with the highest fatality rates for occupational injury during 1980–2000 include Alaska (20.9 per 100,000 workers), Wyoming (14.9), Montana (11.1), Idaho (9.7), Mississippi (9.6), and West Virginia (9.6). The greatest numbers of fatal occupational injuries occurred in California (12,221), Texas (11,635), Florida (7,252), Illinois (5,145), and Pennsylvania (4,420).

BLS reported 5,524 fatal occupational injuries in 2002. Rates of these injuries declined 23.1% during 1992–2002, from 5.2 per 100,000 full-time workers in 1992 to 4.0 in 2002 (Figure 2–16). During 1980–2000, the States with the highest rates of occupational injury death were Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, West Virginia, and Mississippi (Figure 2–17). Most fatal injuries occurred among workers who were aged 25–54 (66.6%) (Figure 2–19), male (92.0%) (Figure 2–20), and white, non-Hispanic (71.0%) (Figure 2–22). The majority of fatal injuries (55.2% or 2,999 cases) occurred among two occupational groups: operators, fabricators, and laborers (34.9% or 1,895 cases) and precision production, craft, and repair workers (20.3% or 1,104 cases) (Figure 2–24). Two industry sectors accounted for more than 40% of fatal occupational injuries: construction (22.6% or 1,121 cases) and transportation and public utilities (18.3% or 910 cases) (Figure 2–25). Deaths due to motor vehicle incidents had the highest rates from 1980 through 1998 (Figure 2–23). During 1992–2000, the number of fatal occupational injuries associated with highway incidents increased 18.5% (Figure 2–28).

CONSTRUCTION SITE LAWYERS
Due to the nature of construction work, many construction site cases have the potential to involve injury-causing parties other than the injured worker's employer.  If the injuries are severe, it will be critical to identify negligent "third parties" (parties other than the employer), in order to avoid the restrictions imposed by workers compensation laws.  Often, these Third-Party Defendants are not immediately apparent.  Knowledge of the industry, contract law, insurance coverage, unions, and creative lawyering are often all important ingredients for a successful construction site injury case, including falls from scaffolding and ladders, inadequate supervision, and defective equipment. An attorney must have have a command of work site plans, critical path methods, and chain of command on a given job.  Witness statements must be taken as close to the injury as possible, by someone who truly appreciates the legal issues.  For a free case evaluation, please fill out the form below:

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